


The Most Wonderful Time of Year

by starlight_and_seafire



Series: Damerey Creations Week 2020 [1]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: BB-8 is a matchmaker and a meddlesome droid, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Life Day (Star Wars)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27195265
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlight_and_seafire/pseuds/starlight_and_seafire
Summary: Rey’s never experienced a Life Day celebration before.Poe, a self-styled “Big Fan” of the day, has decided to give her and Finn their first real, proper Life Day celebration, filled with delicious food, beautiful decorations, heartfelt gifts, and all the holiday music and movies they could ever want.And then there’s thatothertradition that leads to an unexpected revelation.
Relationships: Finn/Rose Tico (background), Poe Dameron/Rey
Series: Damerey Creations Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1985257
Comments: 31
Kudos: 59





	The Most Wonderful Time of Year

**Author's Note:**

> For Day 1 of Damerey Creations Week, using the prompt Jacket/Christmas Sweater.
> 
> This story was originally inspired by the promo pictures for the Lego Star Wars holiday special. And if you’ve been on my blog or on the discord, you’ve seen me yell!so excitedly! about the pictures when they were first released and many times since then . . . particularly Poe’s BB-8 sweater.
> 
> We all know Poe wears that sweater every chance he gets, so of course he pulls it out for Life Day. And as BB-8’s other parent, Rey deserves her own version too.
> 
> Then I saw the prompts for Damerey Creations week, and it was good inspiration to get off my butt and finally write it. So without further ado, have a lot of fluffy holiday goodness.

Rey’s never experienced a real, proper Life Day celebration before.

Sure, she’s read about it. She’s heard the holiday mentioned in passing on the Resistance base, soldiers lamenting the inability to properly celebrate in the midst of war. And she knows that several cultures and planets have their own spin on the festivities.

She’s heard all about them. But she’s never _experienced_ one.

She emerges from her bunk on the Falcon one morning, still in her soft sleep pants and top simply because she can since she no longer has to wake up early to train or prep for battle. It’s just like any other day to her, so it’s probably fair to say that she’s a little lost when she steps from the hallway into the ship’s main hold rubbing her bleary, sleep encrusted eyes, and sees . . . _that_.

Namely, she sees Poe and Rose each holding up the end of a long, colorful string of lights against the wall near the Dejarik table. Poe is reaching up on his tip toes to get high enough as Rose stands on a stool, while BB-8 is parked a few feet away, his photoreceptor peering up at them in contemplation.

BB-8 burbles something at Poe, who strains a little higher. “This good?”

A quick back-and-forth swivel of his dome and BB-8 chirps happily, and then Poe and Rose are fastening the string of lights into place.

Poe quickly strides over to Rose, holding out his hand to help her down from the stool. The two turn around, and Rey has to muffle a laugh as the two startle backwards in surprise.

Of course it’s Poe who speaks first. “Rey! What are you doing up so early?”

It is a little earlier than she gets up, now that she’s settled in to a mostly-post-war life. She’s found out she enjoys sleeping in when she can. But still, she can only quirk an eyebrow in amusement and more than a little confusion at whatever the hell is happening on the ship. “Not early enough apparently. I seem to have missed something.”

Poe’s just gaping back at her, his expression almost, well, disappointed, she would say. Rose catches on to his speechlessness though. “This was going to be a surprise. So . . .” and giving Poe a quick glance, she throws her hands up in the air, and with a grin, exclaims, “Surprise!”

BB-8 is the next one who seems to recover from the shock of her appearance. He rolls to an open box and pulls out a long green strand of garland to show off to her.

Rey furrows her brow. She can’t say it definitely—not with the many smuggler’s notches and hideaways Han had on his ship—but she’s pretty certain they didn’t find the decorations on the Falcon, especially considering the many hands it passed through before getting to her. “Where did you get the supplies?”

To her surprise, it’s not Rose that speaks up, but Poe. “Well, um, my dad gave it to me. For us. Thought we might need them.”

Rey grins, though she’s a little surprised. They had just left Yavin IV, where she met Poe’s father, not to mention the Force tree located on his property. The seemingly taciturn, if still impossibly kind Kes Dameron didn’t seem the type to have so many colorful Life Day decorations. He seemed more of the utilitarian type, practical like her, even if he did load them all down with food before seeing them off.

“He thought you might like—well, you and Finn, really—might like to see how it’s done.”

Rose smirks at Poe. “Rey and Finn, huh?”

Poe rubs a hand across the back of his neck. “And you too, Rose. You too.”

Rose’s smile only stretches wider. “I see you, Dameron. I see you. But what I don’t see are the wreathes.”

“I think they’re in one of the boxes that still remain below. I’ll go get them.”

Rose grabs his arm as he begins to walk off. “No need. I’ll get them and see what else we might be able to use. Maybe we can get it done before Finn wakes up. Be back in a few!” Rose chirps cheerfully, already heading for the door.

Rey gives her friend a distracted smile as she heads off, but really, she’s too busy staring around the room. In addition to the lights she had walked in on them hanging up, several strands of garland, in addition to the one BB-8 had just pulled out, fill the room with shimmering golds and silvers, blues and greens. There’s also a large green tree sitting in the corner, lights already strung around its branches. Another box sits next to it unopened, but clearly labeled “Tree Decorations.”

Even half completed, the effect is stunning. “You’re really doing all this for us?” She can’t contain her awe, or the way butterflies have taken flight in her stomach. She can only hope he assumes it’s all due to the decorations and not from all the incredibly sweet stuff he’s always doing for her, or the way they banter it out as they sit at the Dejarik table, or how he slips her extra rolls from his dinner plate, or when he sits with her when they’re both awake from nightmares, BB-8 at their feet, and—

“Of course.” Poe’s voice is far softer than she expected from the normally exuberant man, and she pulls her eyes away from the decoration to see him gazing back at her, cheeks flushed with the exertion of the decorating he and Rose have already done this morning. “You deserve to see a proper Life Day celebration. You all do.” A long pause follows, his gaze turning back to the recently strung up lights. “Or, well, at least one like we had on Yavin when I was a kid. There are different traditions elsewhere.”

He turns back to her and points towards a box in the corner behind her. “Even brought some holiday mugs and plates and such. And there are Life Day movies too! My parents really went overboard with it all when I was a kid.”

But while Poe’s talking, she notices something else surprising, something that has her smiling brightly. “Is that Beebee on your sweater?”

Poe glances down at his sweater and smiles sheepishly. “Uh, yeah. It is.” His face softens as he rubs a thumb over the fabric at the hem, clearly lost in memory. “Black Squadron got it for me the first holiday we were all together.”

She quickly shortens the distance between them, reaching out to grip the hem of his sweater and pull it into a better position for her to take a good long look at it. Poe startles and clears his throat, glancing away quickly.

She drops her hands and flushes red as she realizes how close she is to him now. She gives him an apologetic grin at the sudden intrusion into his personal space. “Sorry, I just—I really like it! It’s adorable.”

BB-8 burbles his agreement, and she can’t help but grin down at the droid. “You’re right. It is a very good likeness of you. That’s what makes it so adorable.”

BB-8 chirps again and Poe snorts, feigning a stern glare down at the droid. “Isn’t that a little egotistical of you, buddy?”

BB-8 lets out a quick burst of binary that Rey can only translate as the droid sticking out his metaphorical tongue and blowing a raspberry at his friend.

Rey can only laugh. “No, he’s right. I would love a sweater with him on it. He truly is that adorable.”

BB-8 rolls over to her, nudging her leg gently, and she kneels down to pet its dome. She smiles at the droid, before turning her gaze around the room once more to take in the decorations. Even half completed, she’s amazed at how the normally dull room has been turned into something cheerful and festive, all in an effort to give her and Finn the opportunity to properly celebrate their first Life Day.

She glances up and sees Poe gazing fondly down at her and BB-8. Their eyes meet and hold, and her chest fills with a burst of warmth.

It’s almost too much.

With a final pat on BB-8’s dome, she stands and turns, unable to meet Poe’s eyes any longer. She hopes he didn’t notice her face flushing further. At least she can be certain he didn’t notice—couldn’t have noticed—the way her throat suddenly grew dry and filled with some almost incomprehensible emotion.

How is she supposed to deal with her feelings for him when he does stuff like this?

* * *

Three days later and Rey is laughing wildly as Rose spins her around in circles, neither of them caring any longer about the beat of the music, and simply focusing on _fun_.

Her stomach muscles burn and her cheeks ache with how much she’s laughed and smiled this evening. And, considering the way the others talk about it, this is not even close to the end of the festivities.

It had started earlier that afternoon with Rose and Poe hustling her and Finn to another part of the ship while they finished getting the Life Day celebration ready. They were only allowed back in when the numerous steaming dishes filled with food were finally placed on the table, plates and glasses ready to be used next to them and a bright wreath surrounding a dish filled with cheerful red berries sitting in the center, and upbeat music playing from the speakers.

It was _amazing_.

She giggled all the way through, her stomach pleased and overfilled as she ate and ate and ate the most delicious things she had ever tasted while surrounded by her best friends. Even D-O and BB-8, who spent a fair amount of the meal playfully dancing in the corner, joined in with the conversation and laughter.

When Poe, sitting next to her, had bumped his knee against hers and leaned in to ask, “Are you having a good time?” it was the easiest thing to answer “Yes.”

She’d never been so happy.

Once lunch—or dinner, she’s not really certain, they were at the table for _hours_ —finished, Rose sprang up from her chair, and ushered Finn into the main hold.

Rey was a bit slower as she moved to stand, her stomach almost uncomfortably full, groaning a bit as she pushed her chair back from the table.

“A little too much to eat?” Poe smiled at her knowingly, even as he held out his hand to help her up.

She took it, feeling a pleasant buzz shoot up her arm at the contact. Still, she managed to grin back at him, and utter a boastful “Never.”

She’s certain she could have put away another plate at the least.

Poe squeezed her hand as he escorted her towards the main hold. “Good thing there’s leftovers then.”

Now that was a pleasant thought.

When they entered the room, the lights were dimmed just enough to truly highlight the shimmering lights, the Life Tree glittering with blues and reds and golds, the ornaments bright pops of festive color amongst the deep green branches.

She had to bite her lip to keep from unleashing the full force of her smile, even as she walked closer to the tree to take it all in. She was so absorbed in its beauty that she barely noticed that she hadn’t let go of Poe’s hand, using it to tug him closer to the tree with her. With the cheery music filling her ears, she turned towards Poe, helpless to restrain her smile any longer. “It’s so beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Poe was gazing back at her, the glimmering lights catching on his dark hair and in his warm brown eyes. “Me neither.” A beat passed, and then another, neither of them able to look away. Then Poe glanced back towards the tree, suddenly looking shy. “I think this just might be my favorite time of year.”

Suddenly, she had felt shy too, and she’s not entirely sure why. But there was a spark inside her, a tinge of warmth and hope. And when Rose called them over to open presents, she joined them at the table, all the while Poe’s hand remained firmly grasped in hers.

* * *

She doesn’t want the night to end.

Even when Rose and Finn wander off to bed, feigning yawns and bleary eyes, she remains seated on her perch near the Dejarik table. Instead, she simply smiles and wishes them one last happy Life Day and a good night as they wander off to enjoy the rest of their evening alone. Poe excuses himself a moment later, but with a promise to return quickly.

She, on the other hand, is more than content to sit in the dimmed lights of the hold, head resting against the wall as she watches the lights glitter and shine on the tree, and listening to the faint music still playing over the speakers.

Still, despite the beauty in front of her, she senses his presence long before he comes back into view.

She tilts her head towards Poe, who stands in the open doorway with a soft smile on his face. “Found whatever you were looking for?”

He doesn’t take his eyes off her as he walks back into the room. He’s still in his bright green sweater, BB-8 emblazoned cheerfully on the front, as he has been all of this Life Day, but she swears there’s something different about him now. A certain shyness or hesitancy that she doesn’t usually associate with him, a little less of that brashness that can’t help but peek through even in the quieter moments.

It’s only when he holds out the hand that had been concealed behind his back, a brightly wrapped package held in it, that she realizes the difference. Or really, it’s when he runs his other hand through his hair, rumpling it even further from his normally artfully tousled hair.

She knows about his routine. He’s not often a vain man, but when it comes to his hair, everyone knows. And to see him run his hand through his hair, not even noticing that he only messes it up further, well, it’s not surprising that he catches her staring.

Granted, the fact that it’s unusual for him to let his hair get so rumpled isn’t the only reason she’s staring.

Even as she blinks quickly to clear her thoughts, she notices his cheeks redden, and then he’s thrusting the package towards her. “It’s for you.”

She stares at it in surprise. “You already gave me a present.”

“Yes. Well, I gave you one. But then I realized this—well, I hope you’ll like this one too.”

“But I only got one gift for you!” She’s mortified at the idea that maybe there is some other tradition that she missed out on, that she didn’t know about. Did she mess up? If he got her two gifts, but she only got him the one—

“That’s not how it works.” He grins at her, cheeks still flushed pink, and then he’s moving to sit on the bench next to her. “Open it.”

His sudden shyness, the hesitation that seems to color his movements, combined with the warmth she can feel coming off him sitting so close to her, has her glancing quickly down at the package as butterflies erupt in her stomach. She tucks a wisp of hair behind her ear and begins to gently peel open the wrapping paper, peeking at him out of the corner of her eye as she does so, only to find him looking right back at her.

She smiles shyly down at the package as she carefully unfurls the last piece of wrapping paper. Then her eyes widen, her smile stretching so far her cheeks ache with it, as she sees just what is inside.

“Poe . . .” She doesn’t know what else to say.

He leans closer, studying her face. “Do you like it?”

How can he even ask such a thing? She pulls the bright green sweater out of the package, holding it up in front of her so she can admire it better, eyes roving over the knitted BB-8 and D-O that gaze back at her from the sweater. She pulls it close to her, cradling the fabric against her chest, as she turns to him. “How did you—where did you get this?”

“I sent a friend of mine who does this kind of thing a message. I picked it up when we stopped for supplies yesterday. I may owe their kid some—or several really—flying lessons now, but . . . do you like it?”

“Are you kidding?” She lays the sweater in her lap and smooths her hand gently over the fabric. She has her own Life Day sweater now. Poe got her a sweater with her two little ducklings on it. It feels like her chest is fit to burst. Instead, she surges towards him, catching him around the neck and pulling him into a hug. “I love it!”

“Then it’s absolutely worth it.” His arms wrap around her too. And then, softly, “Happy Life Day, sunshine.”

There are a million things she wants to say to him. But mostly she worries that if she opens her mouth, all the feelings she’s been so carefully concealing from him will come spilling out and ruin this moment. So instead, she buries her nose in his neck and clutches him to her tighter.

She doesn’t manage to pull away from him as quickly as she probably should. If she can’t say what’s in her heart, at least she can have this.

It’s only after several long moments pass that she manages to disentangle herself from him. She’s sure her neck is bright red as she moves to stand, her throat only managing to work enough to say, “It’s getting late . . .”

“Yeah. We should probably get some rest.”

She knows she’s walking far slower than she normally does, but he doesn’t seem to mind, his stride matching hers as they walk down the hallways toward their bunks.

As they turn one corner though, she spies BB-8 at the other end, who quickly rolls towards them, D-O close behind, and chirrups a question at her.

“Yes, he gave it to me a few minutes ago. I guess I should thank you too for giving him the idea. I love it very much.”

Another quick burble of binary, and her eyebrows raise in surprise. “Of course you can see it.” She unrolls the fabric she’s still hugging to herself and holds it up for BB-8 to look at. “Here you go. I’m surprised he didn’t show it to you earlier.”

She grins, but as she spies Poe out of the corner of her eyes, his brow furrowing, her expression slips into confusion.

“I did.”

Both of them turn back to BB-8, whose photoreceptor is determinedly trained on the sweater, studying it as if it was as serious and important as a text on hyperspace calculations and ship specifications. But then, with a slowness and deliberativeness that is more than a little suspicious, particularly from a droid like BB-8, who despite his cautiousness is more than a little skilled with espionage, his photoreceptor looks up . . . and up . . . and up—

Until he’s clearly staring at the ceiling, where a sprig of mistletoe hangs above them.

Rey knows exactly what that sprig of mistletoe means. If it hadn’t been made clear in the series of Life Day holofilms they all watched together yesterday and today, it’s not like she hadn’t been listening when Rose had explained to her many of the different Life Day traditions throughout the galaxy.

It takes a moment for Rey to push past her surprise. “Did you put that up there?”

Poe’s voice sounds strangled. “No, I didn’t.”

Nearly at the same moment, confusion and shock filling the space between them, they both turn their heads to glance down at BB-8. The droid, on the other hand, seems less confused. BB-8 whirls around a few times, releasing a string of binary that Rey can only roughly translate as “Uh-oh” before he rolls off as if a dozen angry Rathtars were on his tail, D-O hot on his heels.

“Well, that’s not suspicious at all,” Rey says, smothering a laugh. “Though to be honest, I think he’s not tall enough to get that on the ceiling.”

Poe lets out a little sigh. “No, he really isn’t.”

Rey glances over at him, sees his eyes close heavily, shoulders sagging. Her heart drops. He clearly didn’t expect to get caught under mistletoe with her tonight. Poe’s kind, almost to a fault, and she knows he’ll let her down as easy as possible, or—possibly even worse—drop a quick, chaste kiss on her cheek.

She can salvage this night though, give him an easy out and protect her heart from the inevitable ache. She opens her mouth—

But Poe beats her to it.

“I’m sorry, this is my fault. Believe me, there is absolutely no requirement to kiss right now. I think Rose and Finn are trying to give me a sign, trying to get me to make a move. They’ve been teasing me about my feelings for you for weeks now. But _kriff_ , I can’t imagine how uncomfortable this is for you right now. And that’s the last thing I’d want, for you to feel uncomfortable around me. You deserve more than that.” He gestures up to the mistletoe, a rueful grin on his face. “You deserve more than some kiss you neither wanted nor expected.”

Poe has feelings for her.

Sweet, wonderful Poe. Poe who keeps her on her toes with his wit and playful bantering, who challenges her to be better every day, who looks out for her and gives her her own Life Day sweater, who has feelings for her.

She’s been nursing an aching heart for months now, hoping beyond hope that one day maybe, just maybe, he’ll see her as something more than a lonely scavenger girl from Jakku and the last Jedi. That maybe one day he’ll see her as something more than just a friend.

She blinks, her jaw agape, and as he turns to her, she sees his eyes normally so warm and full of life become downcast.

“What an ending to your first Life Day, huh? Getting stuck under one of these things with me.”

Her mind may still be trying to play catch up, but luckily her instincts are as finely honed as ever.

As he turns to head to his bunk, an embarrassed tinge of pink on his cheeks and a soft “Goodnight” falling from his lips, her arm darts out, and she catches his wrist in her hand.

He turns back to her startled. His eyes glance quickly to where her fingers encircle his wrist and then up to her face. She doesn’t think she imagines that small spark of hope illuminating his eyes. She wonders if he can see the same in hers.

She takes a step closer, and then another. “And here I was thinking that maybe Rose and Finn were trying to give me a sign. Apparently I wasn’t very successful in hiding my feelings for you from them either.”

His eyes widen. “I’m sorry?”

“Don’t sound so surprised, Dameron. Honestly, I didn’t think that I was doing a very good job hiding my feelings from _you_.”

“Your feelings? Me?”

She’s seen Poe in many different situations. She’s seen him handle a variety of situations with ease and humor and grace, and sometimes—when things get particularly tough—even more than a little grumpiness although he always manages to push through to find the light on the other side. This though? This is a first. She’s never seen him so _flustered_. It causes something pleasant to flutter in her belly at this new and unexpected situation.

“Is that really so surprising? That I have feelings for you?”

Poe looks incredulous. “Well, you’re . . . you’re _you_. Honestly, you could do so much better than me.”

She laughs softly, her eyes not moving from Poe’s face. She wants to memorize this moment, the way Poe is looking at her, love and adoration mixed with the most absolutely flabbergasted expression she’s ever seen on anyone’s face before. And it’s all directed towards _her_. And she knows just how he feels, even as she realizes she has to take matters into her own hands.

“You’ve already given me so much, and now you’ve given me my first Life Day. Not to mention my first Life Day sweater!” she teases, gesturing to the fabric she currently cradles in her arm. “It’s really not so surprising when you think about it.” She takes another step closer, until only the smallest distance separates the two. “You know what is surprising though?”

“What?” he asks, voice soft and breathy, his eyes darting between her eyes and lips.

“That you think my Life Day has been ruined or something by getting stuck under here with you.”

“Oh?”

“Oh.” She arches an eyebrow playfully. “Maybe you can think of a different ending?”

She sees the moment the thought takes hold, as Poe’s lips tilt upwards in wonder. His hand comes up to stroke her jaw, and she does her best to prevent her eyes from falling closed just yet, feeling greedy and wanting to catalogue every moment, every sensation.

He leans in, but it’s not his lips on hers that she feels. No, his nose strokes along hers at first, slow, teasing, soft. It makes her smile.

She feels his breath against her lips as he murmurs, “May I kiss you?”

“I might be angry if you don’t.”

“Can’t have that, not on Life Day.”

She’s about to retort, some mindless, petty insult if Poe insists on continuing to tease her, when she’s already been waiting seconds, days, months for this kiss, when she feels his lips finally meet hers. His lips are soft and warm, and she can’t help but surge up into the kiss.

The kiss makes her head spin, even as she feels so safe and happy being cradled in Poe’s arms like this, held securely against him. She wants to live in this kiss forever, but it’s over far too soon.

“Wow,” he murmurs, voice breathless. He presses his forehead to hers for a long moment, before pulling back just enough to look into her eyes. One of his hands that had been stroking along her spine, sending little shivers through her, comes up to cup her cheek, and she can’t help but press her face further into the warmth. “Happy Life Day.”

Rey thrusts her hands into his hair, pulling his mouth back to hers. “It’s not over yet.”


End file.
